THEATRE-GOERS are being offered the first ticket resale service for West End shows.

The whatsonstage.com website will tomorrow launch a ticket exchange with tight controls. It will offer a legitimate place for people to re-sell tickets for a date that they can no longer make. The site will be monitored for any evidence it is being used by touts. To stop profiteering out of subsidised venues, such as the National Theatre or Royal Court, there will be a cap of a maximum 25 per cent above the face value.

The site will point out that many venues have a refund/exchange policy of their own. It will offer customers the chance to donate a portion of the sale directly back to the relevant theatre company.

There will be no cap on the re-sale price for commercial shows.

Terri Paddock, editorial director of Whatsonstage.com. said: "Theatre can be expensive, especially when you pay out for tickets that, for whatever reason, you're no longer able to use. Across West End theatres and sales outlets, there's no consistent policy on refunds and exchanges. Now there is a real alternative to just writing off the loss."

Every transaction is guaranteed for both buyer and seller under the system which builds on an informal forum that has operated on the whatsonstage website for two years. The technology is being provided by viagogo which already offers a secondary market for tickets for pop concerts and sporting events.

Eric Baker, chief executive officer of viagogo, said: "Theatregoers can buy and sell tickets to all the leading productions in a 100 per cent safe and secure environment."